Ethiopia -European Parliament resolution of 21 January 2016 on the situation in Ethiopia (2016/2520(RSP))

European Parliament resolution of 21 January 2016 on the situation in Ethiopia
(2016/2520(RSP))
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in Ethiopia and to the most recent
plenary debate on the matter, of 20 May 2015,
– having regard to the statement of 23 December 2015 by the European External Action
Service (EEAS) spokesperson on recent clashes in Ethiopia,
– having regard to the joint statement of 20 October 2015 by Federica Mogherini,
Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs
and Security Policy (VP/HR), and Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,
– having regard to the press release on the meeting of 13 January 2016 between the VP/HR,
Federica Mogherini, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia, Tedros Adhanom,
– having regard to the statement of 27 May 2015 by the EEAS spokesperson on the
elections in Ethiopia,
– having regard to the declaration of 10 July 2015 by the UN Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, David Kaye,
on the release of Ethiopian journalists,
– having regard to the latest Universal Periodic Review on Ethiopia before the UN Human
Rights Council,
– having regard to the Cotonou Agreement,
– having regard to the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia adopted
on 8 December 1994, and in particular the provisions of Chapter III on fundamental rights
and freedoms, human rights and democratic rights,
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
– having regard to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, ratified by Ethiopia in 1994,
– having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights,
– having regard to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
– having regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas the most recent general elections were held on 24 May 2015, in which the
Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) remained the ruling party
and won all the seats in the national parliament, owing in part to the lack of space for
critical or dissenting voices in the election process; whereas May’s federal elections took
place in a general atmosphere of intimidation and concerns over the lack of independence
of the National Electoral Board; whereas the EPRDF has been in power for 24 years, since
the overthrow of the military government in 1991;
B. whereas over the past two months Ethiopia’s largest region, Oromia, home of Ethiopia’s
largest ethnic group, has been hit by a wave of mass protests over the expansion of the
municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa, which has put farmers at risk of being
evicted from their land;
C. whereas, according to international human rights organisations, security forces have
responded to the generally peaceful protests by killing at least 140 protesters and injuring
many more, in what may be the biggest crisis to hit Ethiopia since the 2005 election
violence; whereas, on the contrary, the government has only admitted the deaths of dozens
of people as well as 12 members of the security forces;
D. whereas on 14 January 2016 the government decided to cancel the disputed large-scale
urban development plan; whereas, if implemented, the plan would expand the city’s
boundary 20-fold; whereas the enlargement of Addis Ababa has already displaced
millions of Oromo farmers and trapped them in poverty;
E. whereas Ethiopia is a highly diverse country in terms of religious beliefs and cultures;
whereas some of the largest ethnic communities, particularly the Oromo and the Somali
(Ogaden), have been marginalised in favour of the Amhara and the Tigray, with little
participation in political representation;
F. whereas the Ethiopian authorities arbitrarily arrested a number of peaceful protesters,
journalists and opposition party leaders in a brutal crackdown on protests in the Oromia
Region; whereas those arrested are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment;
G. whereas the government has labelled largely peaceful protesters as ‘terrorists’, applying
the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation (Law No 652/2009) and deploying military forces
against them;
H. whereas on 23 December 2015 the authorities arrested Bekele Gerba, Deputy Chairman of
the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), Oromia’s largest legally registered political party;
whereas Mr Gerba was taken to prison and reportedly hospitalised shortly afterwards;
whereas his whereabouts are now unknown;
I. whereas other senior OFC leaders have been arbitrarily arrested in recent weeks or are
said to be under virtual house arrest;
J. whereas this is not the first time that Ethiopian security forces have been implicated in
serious human rights violations in response to peaceful protests, and whereas it is known
that the Ethiopian Government is systematically repressing freedom of expression and
association and banning individuals from expressing dissent or opposition to government
policies, thereby limiting the civil and political space, including by carrying out politically
motivated prosecutions under the draconian anti-terrorism law, decimating independent
media, dismantling substantial civil society activism and cracking down on opposition
political parties;
K. whereas in December 2015 leading activists such as Getachew Shiferaw (Editor-in-Chief
of Negere Ethiopia), Yonathan Teressa (an online activist) and Fikadu Mirkana (Oromia
Radio and TV) were arbitrarily arrested, although they have yet to be charged by the
Ethiopian authorities;
L. whereas the Ethiopian Government imposes pervasive restrictions on independent civil
society and media; whereas, according to the 2014 prison census conducted by the
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Ethiopia was the fourth-worst jailer of journalists
in the world, with at least 17 journalists behind bars, 57 media professionals having fled
Ethiopia in the previous five years and a number of independent publications having shut
down as a result of official pressure; whereas Ethiopia also ranked fourth on the CPJ’s
2015 list of the 10 most-censored countries;
M. whereas numerous prisoners of conscience imprisoned in previous years solely on the
basis of the legitimate exercise of their freedom of expression and opinion, including
journalists and opposition political party members, remain in detention; whereas some of
them have been convicted in unfair trials, some face ongoing trials and some continue to
be detained without charge, including Eskinder Nega, Temesghen Desalegn,
Solomon Kebede, Yesuf Getachew, Woubshet Taye, Saleh Edris and Tesfalidet Kidane;
N. whereas Andargachew Tsege, a British-Ethiopian citizen and leader of an opposition party
living in exile, was arrested in June 2014; whereas Mr Tsege had been condemned to
death several years earlier in his absence, and has been on death row practically
incommunicado since his arrest;
O. whereas Ethiopia’s Charities and Societies Proclamation law requires organisations
engaged in advocacy to generate 90 % of the funding for their activities from local
sources, which has led to a decrease in action by civil society organisation (CSOs) and to
the disappearance of many CSOs; whereas Ethiopia rejected recommendations to amend
the Charities and Societies Proclamation and the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, made by
several countries during the examination of its rights record under the Human Rights
Council Universal Periodic Review of May 2014;
P. whereas the Ethiopian Government has de facto imposed a widespread blockade of the
Ogaden region in Ethiopia, which is rich in oil and gas reserves; whereas attempts to work
and report from the region by international media and humanitarian groups are seen as
criminal acts punishable under the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation; whereas there are reports
of war crimes and severe human rights violations perpetrated by the army and government
paramilitary forces against the Ogaden population;
Q. whereas Ethiopia, the second-most-populated country in Africa, is reportedly one of the
fastest-growing economies in Africa, with an average growth rate of 10 % in the past
decade; whereas it nevertheless remains one of the poorest, with a per capita GNI of
USD 632; whereas it ranked 173rd out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index
for 2014;
R. whereas Ethiopia plays a key role in the region and enjoys political support from Western
donors and most of its regional neighbours, mostly owing to its role as host of the African
Union (AU) and its contribution to UN peacekeeping, security and aid partnerships with
Western countries;
S. whereas, as economic growth continues apace (along with significant foreign investments,
including in the agriculture, construction and manufacturing sectors, large-scale
development projects, such as hydroelectric dam building and plantations, and widespread
land-leasing, often to foreign companies), many people, including farmers as well as
pastoralists, have been driven from their homes;
T. whereas Article 40(5) of Ethiopia’s constitution guarantees Ethiopian pastoralists the right
to free land for grazing and cultivation and the right not to be displaced from their own
lands;
U. whereas Ethiopia is a signatory to the Cotonou Agreement, Article 96 of which stipulates
that respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms is an essential element of
ACP-EU cooperation;
V. whereas Ethiopia is experiencing its worst drought in decades, leading to increasing food
insecurity, severe emaciation and unusual livestock deaths; whereas nearly 560 000
people are internally displaced owing to floods, violent clashes over scarce resources and
drought; whereas the Ethiopian Government estimates that 10,1 million people, half of
them children, are in need of emergency food aid owing to the drought;
W. whereas Ethiopia is faced with permanent influxes of migrants and is a host country for
approximately 700 000 refugees, mainly from South Sudan, Eritrea and Somalia; whereas
on 11 November 2015 a Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility (CAMM) was
signed by the EU and Ethiopia to reinforce cooperation and dialogue between the two
parties in the area of migration;
1. Strongly condemns the recent use of excessive force by the security forces in Oromia and
in all Ethiopian regions, and the increased number of cases of human rights violations;
expresses its condolences to the families of the victims and urges the immediate release of
all those jailed for exercising their rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression;
2. Reminds the Ethiopian Government of its obligations to guarantee fundamental rights,
including access to justice and the right to a fair trial, as provided for in the African
Charter and other international and regional human rights instruments, including the
Cotonou Agreement and specifically Articles 8 and 96 thereof;
3. Calls for a credible, transparent and independent investigation into the killings of
protesters and into other alleged human rights violations in connection with the protest
movement, and calls on the government to fairly prosecute those responsible before the
competent jurisdictions;
4. Calls on the Government of Ethiopia to respect the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and the African Charter, including the right to peaceful assembly, freedom of
expression and association; urges the government to immediately invite the UN Special
Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and other UN
human rights experts to visit Ethiopia to report on the situation;
5. Welcomes the government’s decision to completely halt the special zone master plan for
Addis Ababa and Oromia; calls for an immediate, inclusive and transparent political
dialogue which includes the government, opposition parties, civil society representatives
and the local population, to prevent any further violence or radicalisation of the
population;
6. Stresses that free and independent media are essential in order to guarantee an informed,
active and engaged population, and calls on the Ethiopian authorities to stop suppressing
the free flow of information, including by jamming media broadcasts and harassing
media, to guarantee the rights of local civil society and media and to facilitate access
throughout Ethiopia for independent journalists and human rights monitors; acknowledges
the recent release of ‘Zone 9’ bloggers and of six journalists;
7. Requests that the Ethiopian authorities stop using anti-terrorism legislation
(Anti-Terrorism Proclamation No 652/2009) to repress political opponents, dissidents,
human rights defenders, other civil society actors and independent journalists; calls also
on the Ethiopian Government to review its anti-terrorism law in order to bring it into line
with international human rights law and principles;
8. Condemns the excessive restrictions placed on human rights work by the Charities and
Societies Proclamation, which denies human rights organisations access to essential
funding, endows the Charities and Societies Agency with excessive powers of interference
in human rights organisations and further endangers victims of human rights violations by
contravening principles of confidentiality;
9. Calls on the Ethiopian authorities to prevent any ethnic or religious discrimination and to
encourage and take action in favour of a peaceful and constructive dialogue between all
communities;
10. Welcomes Ethiopia’s 2013 human rights action plan and calls for its swift and complete
implementation;
11. Urges the authorities to implement, in particular, the recommendation of the Human
Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention and to release British national
and political activist Andargachew Tsege immediately;
12. States that respect for human rights and the rule of law are crucial to the EU’s policies to
promote development in Ethiopia and throughout the Horn of Africa; calls the AU’s
attention to the political, economic and social situation of its host country, Ethiopia;
13. Calls for the EU, as the single largest donor, to monitor programmes and policies
effectively to ensure that EU development assistance is not contributing to human rights
violations in Ethiopia, particularly through programmes linked to the displacement of
farmers and pastoralists, and to develop strategies to minimise any negative impact of
displacement within EU-funded development projects; stresses that the EU should
measure its financial support according to the country’s human rights record and the
degree to which the Ethiopian Government promotes reforms towards democratisation;
14. Calls on the government to include local communities in a dialogue on the implementation
of any large-scale development projects; expresses its concerns about the government’s
forced resettlement programme;
15. Expresses deep concern about the current devastating climatic conditions in Ethiopia,
which have worsened the humanitarian situation in the country; calls for the EU, together
with its international partners, to scale up its support to the Ethiopian Government and
people; welcomes the contribution recently announced by the EU and calls on the
Commission to ensure that this additional funding is provided as a matter of urgency;
16. Recalls that Ethiopia is an important country of destination, transit and origin for migrants
and asylum seekers, and that it hosts the largest refugee population in Africa; takes note,
therefore, of the adoption of a Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility between the
EU and Ethiopia which addresses the issues of refugees, border control and the fight
against human trafficking; calls also on the Commission to monitor closely all projects
recently initiated within the framework of the EU Trust Fund for Africa;
17. Is extremely concerned about the economic and social situation of the country’s
population – in particular women and minorities, and refugees and displaced persons,
whose numbers continue to increase – in view of the crisis and the instability of the
region; reiterates its support for all humanitarian organisations operating on the ground
and in neighbouring host countries; supports calls by the international community and
humanitarian organisations to step up assistance to refugees and displaced persons;
18. Stresses that major public investment plans are required, particularly in the education and
health fields, if the Sustainable Development Goals are to be attained; invites the
Ethiopian authorities to make an effective commitment to attaining these goals;
19. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Government and Parliament of
Ethiopia, the Commission, the Council, the Vice-President of the Commission/High
Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the ACP-EU Council
of Ministers, the institutions of the African Union, the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, and the Pan-African Parliament.